The collection and disposal of waste oil drained from the crankcase of an engine raise many environmental concerns since such waste oil can contaminate the soil and both surface and subterranean water. Regulatory agencies have imposed appropriate regulations upon commercial establishments, such as service stations, garages and the like, to ensure environmentally safe collection and disposal of such waste engine oil. However, it is impossible to regulate effectively the collection and disposal of waste engine oil by individual do-it-yourself maintenance persons.
There are many known practices and products which have been made available for the collection and disposal of waste engine oil to encourage environmentally safe procedures. These known practices and products range from draining an oil pan into an old pan or bucket and then funneling waste oil into a jug that is subsequently delivered to a waste oil disposal facility to waste oil collection pans with associated containers for containing and disposing of the waste oil. With these latter devices, either separate collection pans are provided for subsequent emptying of the waste oil into containers or special types of containers are required to collect and dispose of the waste oil. In either event, these known products are cumbersome to use and have not been a successful solution to the problem.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a device for collection and proper disposal of waste engine oil which is simple and easy to use and which uses readily available containers for the collection and disposal of the waste engine oil.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a device for collecting waste oil and directing it into used plastic bottles for holding and subsequent disposal.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a device of simple construction and low profile to fit underneath automobiles to allow home mechanics to collect and dispose of waste oil in an environmentally safe manner.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description and appended claims, and upon reference to the accompanying drawings.